The family of Rehtaeh Parsons meets Prime Minister Stephen Harper and urges criminal consequences for those who share sexually explicit images without consent.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson speaks to reporters in the foyer of the Commons Tuesday, where he was joined by Leah Parsons, second from right, mother of Rehtaeh Parsons, and her partner Jason Barnes as well as Rehtaeh's father Glen Canning, second from left, and his wife, Krista.

Just weeks after Rehtaeh Parson committed suicide after an alleged rape and relentless bullying, the Halifax teen's family met with the prime minister. Her father says he hopes to see more tools to help teens like Rehtaeh.

OTTAWA—The family of Rehtaeh Parsons made an emotional plea to bring criminal consequences for those who share sexually explicit images without the consent of the subject.

“I’m looking for someone who posts a picture of someone with the intention of completely destroying their life to be held accountable for doing that and right now they just weren’t,” Glen Canning said following their meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Tuesday

Canning is the father of Rehtaeh, the 17-year-old Nova Scotia girl who died three days after she hanged herself earlier this month.

Her suicide came more than a year after Parsons was allegedly sexually assaulted by four teens, and after months of bullying that followed when a photograph of the alleged incident circulated among her peers.

The meeting lasted about 45 minutes and began with a private encounter between Harper, Canning and Leah Parsons, the mother of Rehtaeh, before opening up to include their partners, Krista Canning and Jason Barnes, as well as Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Defence Minister Peter MacKay.

“It was heartfelt. It was as parents we were talking,” Canning said of the meeting with Harper.

“It was frustrating for us to go through something like this and feel so defenceless to do anything at all to help our daughter. So we conveyed that message. We conveyed it very clearly and it was just nice to see — it’s sad that it had to happen like this, but it was just good to see that there is going to be something the government can do,” Canning told reporters on Parliament Hill following the meeting Tuesday afternoon.

“I don’t know what that will be, but I know that they care.”

It remains unclear whether the Conservative government will meet the demand of Nova Scotia Justice Minister Ross Landry, who wants the Criminal Code be changed to make it illegal to distribute intimate images, intended for a malicious or sexual purpose, of someone without their consent.

Nicholson told reporters Tuesday he has plans to speed up a review of the potential for such changes to the Criminal Code related to cyberbullying already underway.

“When I meet with my justice counterparts (Wednesday), I will recommend that we expedite the review of our laws, move forward and act to ensure our children are safe from online exploitation,” Nicholson said.

“Rehtaeh deserves no less,” Nicholson said.

Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter, who met Harper on the issue after the family did, said the prime minister seemed open to the idea.

“In our conversation, he very much understood the concerns that I had about particular aspects of the gaps that exist in the current Criminal Code,” Dexter told reporters Tuesday.

“He indicated to me he understood this issue and that they intended to move forward with legislation that would address the kinds of concerns that we have.”

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